Kids (or parents) of the 70's/80's

[Miss Mary]

I love this thread Duckie! I hope I didn't hyjack it, switching gears to toys....but if we are talking toys or trends (pet rocks)....how about:

Troll Dolls? My mom thought they were the ugliest things....and of course b/c she said that, I had to carry it everywhere, putting it on the dinner table some nights, combing it's hair during TV shows, etc. You just like to drive your parents a little nuts when you're a kid.....

I had a Barblie doll house, that closed up like a suitcase, with a carrying handle. You opened it up, unrolled the floor, pulled out the 2 walls and there were a few things 'built-in' but not by today's standards. I remember making all sorts of homemade furniture out of food boxes, covered with construction paper. You really needed your imagination b/c my parents didn't have a lot of money!

Mary

[Pebbles]

Candy necklaces were the bomb

Ok how about this... MAKING friendship bracelets and giving em to your friends. You know with the thread?

I never see anyone doing latch hook rugs anymore either.

Does anyone born after the 80's know what real roller skates are ... you know ...the ones that ARE NOT roller blades?

Remember garbage pail kids?

Better yet...
THE MUPPETS! what the heck happened to them?!
And Bozo was on every morning and people would get their Bozo tickets when their children were born in hopes they would see him by the time their kids were 7 years old! *boggles*

[Miss Mary]

I remember making potholders - so many of them! Selling them to all the mom's in the neighborhood. They always bought them - we thought that was a great business! LOL

I remember real roller skates, that would grow with you - key and all. The wheels would get stuck though and you had to grease them if you wanted to go anywhere. And no one, I repeat no one, wore elbow/knee pads and wouldn't even think about a helmet!

Mary

[Lindaloo]

Does anyone remember the "Little Kiddles"? They were the little dolls that came in a locket.

[Lindaloo]

What about "Barrel of Monkeys"

[pojo]

Barrel of Monkeys... oh my!!! I had them things all over the house!

What about the Cabbage Patch Kids...

[Steve]

It was called

Super Elastic Bubble Plastic

I'll never forget this giant one that someone blew and it got caught up in the interior yard of our school and went all the way around and came back (wind currents) past me. I was in awe. The only thing cooler than that was one day I flew a paper airplane from the ground and it caught a fall wind which took it up above the trees and out of sight. I had props for the day.

Here's the relevant question I have:

What did they call that stuff that you would dip wire craft into that would harden into a film? That's my favorite smell in the world, but no one seems to know what it is or was but me .

Steve

[sunny]

Does anyone remember the "Little Kiddles"? They were the little dolls that came in a locket.

Oh my goodness, I had forgotten about those!!

Do you remember those glass clackers? I used to have bruises all over my arm.

[azsnowman]

Every time I think about growing up in the '60's and 70's I get all nostalgic and wish life was still that simple. Then I snap out of it and get my mind back to the present. (Sigh.)

Amen Brother, life WAS so simple back then!

Dennis

[GalvestonDuck]

Does anyone remember the "Little Kiddles"? They were the little dolls that came in a locket.

Oh my goodness, I had forgotten about those!!

Do you remember those glass clackers? I used to have bruises all over my arm.

I never really could get those to work. Weren't they banned along with lawn darts?

Did anyone here have the game Mouse Trap? That rocked! Oh, and Easy Bake ovens. Did we actually eat those cakes? How's about Baby Alive?

Kids these days -- do they have fun toys anymore?

Pebbles!!! The MUPPETS! "Manah manah....dee dee dee dee-dee...manah manah...dee dee dee deeeeee!" I think I shall want that played at my funeral...years from now, of course!

Steve -- I vaguely remember. Wasn't it a loop with a handle that kind of resembled a Jiffy Pop popcorn thing without the pan?

Ooooh! Anybody have a science kit or one of those crystal kits where you had to pour some chemical over a piece of coal and it would react and grow crystals all over it within a couple of days? That stuff could put Chia to shame!

[Lindaloo]

I had a Pebbles doll when I was about 3. I carried it everywhere. My Mother said the first thing I did was strip her clothes off. lol. She has numerous pics of me and that doll. She said I took her everywhere and would still not part with it even when it was ready for the trash.

[CajunMama]

My favorite toy was a pink and white push-peddle convertible! It had to be parked by my bed when I napped!

I regret the day I went to Montgomery Ward and traded in my Barbie for a Twist & Turn Barbie

[Lindaloo]

Does anyone remember the "Little Kiddles"? They were the little dolls that came in a locket.

Oh my goodness, I had forgotten about those!!

Do you remember those glass clackers? I used to have bruises all over my arm.

OH!!! I had those. I blacked my eye and my Mother threw them away. I loved those. lol.

[Lindaloo]

Aw, I found the Pebbles Doll I had.

[iceangel]

hey, remember the different color slinkys?

My sister had an easy-bake oven when she was young. Really cooked too!!

[streetsoldier]

hey, remember the different color slinkys?

My sister had an easy-bake oven when she was young. Really cooked too!!

The absolute BEST Slinkys were the copper ones...they always worked! Then, there were Duncan Yo-Yos...I had a blue "Butterfly" that could do everything but make coffee.

[sunny]

Duckie, they did ban the glass clackers. I know they used to chip.

I had an easy-bake oven! I think that is when my love of baking began!

Do you remember the roller skates we used to get, those steel ones with the keys that you put over your shoes?

[Miss Mary]

I had an easy bake oven too! Aqua!

I baked all my goodies in one night too. And wailing the next day - it's all gone, now what will I bake mom? Of course when your mom was baking a cake and offered to give you some of her batter, it wasn't the same - not at all. You wanted those little Easy Bake Oven packets.

My dad and brothers ate all my EB treats in that one night. They knew I'd be so disappointed the next day. Those rotten guys!!!! LOL I'm sure one cake to them was like one brownie.

Mary

[Kim_in_MN]

I always wanted an Easy Bake oven and never had one. A couple of weeks ago my daughter turned 6, and her babysitter got her . . . . . an Easy Bake Oven. OK, from a mother's point of view I am not thrilled b/c now, every day when I get home from work, she wants to BAKE!!!!! Please mommy, please pleasepleasepleaseplease??????????

Kim

[Miss Mary]

My best friend across the street while growing up came from a large family. Their budget was even tighter than ours was - best example was her mother saved the small sliver of bath soap bars some people just pitch. She'd put these in a glass jar in the bathroom, on the back of the commode. Every time I'd use their bathroom, I'd see this jar and one time I asked what they did with these slivers of soap. The mom melted/cooked them all down into one big bar. That is how thrifty her mom was.

Well, this mom told her daughter she wasn't getting an Easy Bake Oven. Not when they had a working oven right in the kitchen and all she had to do was pitch in and help out. That was the end of that discussion.

Yep, Debbie would come over and always ask to get my EB Oven out.

Relive that dream of having your own Kim - these days with your young daughter won't last forever. My girls are teens now and toys put away long ago. But my oldest loves to bake - she's quite good at it and likes to try from scratch recipes. So you could have a little baker on your hands!

Mary